Buzz
A highly publicized crime has the power to captivate the collective consciousness of an entire generation. Such incidents force us to confront the very realities we often avoid—most notably, the concept of death. This potent quality can elevate specific locations, eras, or individuals to a level of profound significance. However, crime is also gritty and sensational, often fueling the basest curiosities of readers. As a result, some critics dismiss crime-focused novels as mere pulp fiction, unworthy of serious literary consideration.
The flaw in this perspective is evident: many of the most celebrated works in global literature revolve around crime and those who perpetrate such acts. This list does not claim that every novel mentioned is a masterpiece, but it underscores the significant influence real-life crimes have had on the evolution of fiction.
10. The Great Gatsby
Often hailed as a quintessential example of the “great American novel,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s concise masterpiece explores the life of Jay Gatsby, originally James “Jimmy” Gatz, a North Dakota farm boy who transforms himself into a wealthy socialite on Long Island. While Gatsby appears to be a carefree millionaire, his fortune is built on bootlegging, and his romantic pursuits are fueled by deception. His illicit wealth is tied to the gangster Meyer Wolfsheim, whom Gatsby describes to narrator Nick Carraway as “the man who fixed the World’s Series in 1919.” This reference unmistakably points to one individual—Arnold Rothstein.
A prosperous gambler who invested his winnings into a network of casinos, brothels, and champion racehorses, Rothstein met his end when he was shot and killed during a card game at Manhattan’s luxurious Park Central Hotel. Rothstein became a prominent figure in the 1920s, much like the fictional Wolfsheim, due to his involvement in rigging the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. This infamous event, known as the Black Sox Scandal, saw Rothstein and other high-profile gamblers bribing several White Sox players to intentionally lose games and the series, allowing them to profit immensely. When investigative journalists uncovered the poorly concealed scheme, eight White Sox players, including the uneducated “Shoeless” Joe Jackson—often regarded as the scandal’s most tragic figure—were banned from baseball for life.
The Black Sox Scandal not only tarnished the reputation of baseball but also exposed the harsh truth that illicit wealth can wield significant influence and manipulation. As a quintessential cautionary tale about the pitfalls of the American Dream, The Great Gatsby draws clear inspiration from Rothstein, the 1919 World Series, and the surge of organized crime during the fast-money era of the 1920s.
9. An American Tragedy
Penned by Theodore Dreiser, a leading figure in American naturalism, An American Tragedy shares thematic parallels with The Great Gatsby (both published in 1925). Dreiser’s protagonist, Clyde Griffiths, is the isolated son of devout evangelists who succumbs to the allure of urban life. Starting as a soda jerk, Griffiths spirals into misfortune, developing a dependency on alcohol and frequenting prostitutes. His ultimate undoing occurs when he becomes romantically involved with Roberta Alden, another lost soul ensnared in what Dreiser portrays as America’s exploitative labor system. After impregnating Roberta, Clyde becomes enamored with Sondra Finchley, a wealthy young woman, and attempts to persuade Roberta to undergo an abortion. When Roberta refuses and demands marriage, Clyde plots her murder. During a boating trip in upstate New York, Clyde unintentionally causes Roberta’s death. However, the overwhelming evidence leads to his arrest, conviction, and eventual execution for murder.
Before embarking on his ambitious novel, Dreiser stumbled upon the case of Chester Gillette, the nephew of a prosperous factory owner, who was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend and their four-month-old child in 1906. Gillette, the 22-year-old son of impoverished Salvation Army soldiers, secured a job at a petticoat factory in Cortland, New York, through his uncle Noah. There, he met Grace Brown, an 18-year-old farm girl from the small town of Otselic. Facing pressure from his financially supportive uncle to end his relationship with Brown, whom he deemed a “shop girl,” Gillette was cornered when Brown revealed her pregnancy and demanded marriage. Gillette urged her to have an abortion to avoid scandal, but when she refused, he devised a plan to eliminate both her and their unborn child. On November 12, 1906, Gillette allegedly pushed Brown off their rented boat on Big Moose Lake. Despite the absence of eyewitnesses, the prosecution secured a conviction, and Gillette was executed in the electric chair two years later.
8. The High Window
Though often regarded as one of Raymond Chandler’s less memorable Phillip Marlowe novels, The High Window (1942) remains a quintessential noir story exploring the corrupting influence of wealth and power. When Marlowe is hired by the affluent but reckless Elizabeth Bright Murdock to locate a Brasher Doubloon, an extremely rare and valuable 18th-century coin, he uncovers a tangled family drama involving the rebellious Leslie Murdock, his nightclub singer wife Linda Conquest, and the late Horace Bright, the family’s former patriarch. Bright’s 1929 suicide becomes a focal point as Marlowe questions its circumstances. While discussing the “Cassidy Case” with Detective Lieutenant Breeze, Marlowe unravels the complexities of the Murdock family, revealing how the investigation was hindered from the start due to the influence of Cassidy’s wealthy father. Unbeknownst to many, the Cassidy Case is a fictionalized account of the real-life Ned Doheny case from 1929.
On February 17, 1929, Ned Doheny, the son of Edward L. Doheny, one of California’s wealthiest oil tycoons, was discovered dead near the body of his secretary, Hugh Plunkett, inside the Doheny family’s Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. The initial theory suggested that Plunkett had killed Doheny in a drunken fit, but many investigators, including future crime writer Leslie White, who worked in the DA’s office, doubted this explanation. When District Attorney Burton Fitts’s promise of a thorough investigation quickly faded, suspicions arose that the elder Doheny, a man with ties to the IRA, the Teapot Dome scandal, and illicit funds in Mexico, had influenced the DA. Rumors persist that Doheny and Plunkett were lovers, and some believe the case is connected to the lingering Teapot Dome scandal.
7. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” stands as one of the most iconic horror stories in English literature, recounting the chilling tale of an unnamed narrator’s irrational hatred for an old blind man’s pale, clouded eye. Convinced the eye is evil, the narrator murders the old man in his sleep, dismembers the body, and hides the remains beneath the floorboards. Despite his initial confidence, the narrator’s sanity unravels as he begins to hear the phantom heartbeat of his victim. Overwhelmed by guilt and madness, he eventually confesses to the police and reveals the gruesome evidence.
The genius of “The Tell-Tale Heart” lies in its portrayal of the narrator’s psychological unraveling, offering one of the earliest and most detailed explorations of criminal psychology in fiction. Poe’s inspiration may have stemmed from a real-life murder. In 1830, Salem, Massachusetts, was shaken by the brutal killing of Captain Joseph White, a wealthy resident, during a full moon on April 6. Although none of White’s riches were stolen, the murder was orchestrated by his great-nephew Joseph Knapp and his brother John, who sought to claim the old man’s substantial inheritance. The case captivated the public due to its sensational nature and Salem’s infamous history. Renowned prosecutor Daniel Webster elevated the trial with his meticulous summation, which influenced Poe in crafting his unnamed murderer.
6. ‘The Mystery Of Marie Roget’
Beyond his renowned horror tales, Poe also pioneered modern crime fiction. His detective, C. Auguste Dupin, not only starred in what is regarded as the first true detective story (“The Murders in the Rue Morgue”) but also served as a direct inspiration for the iconic Sherlock Holmes. In the 1842 short story “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” Dupin and his unnamed companion (a precursor to Dr. Watson) delve into the unsolved murder of Roget, a perfume shop employee whose body was discovered in the Seine. Unlike Dupin’s other adventures, this story sees the Parisian detective relying almost entirely on intellectual deduction rather than physical investigation. Long before Nero Wolfe, the sedentary New York detective who solved crimes from his armchair, Dupin employs “ratiocination” from the confines of his study to unravel the mystery.
“The Mystery of Marie Roget” stands out as a detective story that blurs the line between fiction and reality. It essentially reflects Poe’s personal theories on the murder of Mary Rogers, a young and beautiful cigar shop worker whose body was found near Sybil’s Cave in Hoboken, New Jersey, on July 28, 1841. Despite an earlier disappearance in 1838, which included a purported suicide note, Rogers’s body bore clear signs of foul play, ruling out suicide. The case, which remains unsolved, implicated suspects ranging from New York’s infamous street gangs to an abortionist known as Madame Restell.
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The debut novel of Stieg Larsson’s posthumously released Millennium series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, became an instant sensation upon its 2005 publication. The book has since sold millions of copies globally and inspired continuation authors to expand the story. Originally titled Men Who Hate Women in Swedish, the novel follows investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who faces a libel case and seeks to restore his reputation. He accepts an offer from Henrik Vanger, a corporate CEO, to investigate the disappearance of Vanger’s niece, Harriet, in exchange for exposing the criminal activities of Hans-Erik Wennerstrom, the businessman who sued Blomkvist. During the investigation, Blomkvist teams up with Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but troubled private investigator and former hacker. Together, they uncover a link between a long-dormant serial killer and the Vanger family, as well as the full scope of Wennerstrom’s corruption.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is renowned for its graphic depictions of sexual violence, which underscore the novel’s exploration of the toxic intersection of wealth, power, and male sociopathy. Larsson, an investigative journalist and founder of the far-left magazine Expo, drew partial inspiration from the case of Catrine da Costa, a 28-year-old prostitute and heroin addict whose dismembered body was found scattered across Stockholm in the summer of 1984. Da Costa’s head, internal organs, genitals, and one breast were never recovered. Initially, suspicion fell on two doctors, one of whom was a forensic pathologist known to frequent prostitutes. Despite their arrests, the case remains unresolved after a mistrial and subsequent acquittals. While some suggest Lisbeth Salander was inspired by a real-life rape survivor named Lisbeth, the infamous Catrine da Costa case undoubtedly shaped Larsson’s narrative.
4. Red Harvest
When Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest debuted in 1929, detective fiction was dominated by British authors crafting genteel murder mysteries set in secluded country estates, featuring intricate puzzles and eccentric, brilliant sleuths. Hammett, a former Pinkerton detective, aimed to inject realism and heightened violence into the genre. His first novel is set in Personville, a mining town in the West, colloquially known as Poisonville due to its rampant crime. The Continental Op, Hammett’s stout yet formidable detective, is hired by newspaper publisher Donald Willsson. The Op soon finds himself entangled not only in Willsson’s murder but also in a brutal gang war plaguing Poisonville. In a masterstroke of manipulation, the Op orchestrates a series of gang conflicts to solve the case. This storyline, along with the novel itself, has inspired numerous screen adaptations, including Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.
Hammett infused his mystery fiction with both his firsthand experience as a private detective and elements from his own life. Red Harvest draws inspiration from a prolonged miners’ strike in Montana spanning 1912–20 and the lynching of IWW labor leader Frank Little. We’ve previously discussed this case. Briefly, Hammett worked as a Pinkerton detective in Butte, Montana, during the strike in 1917, tasked with breaking it up. When an Anaconda Copper representative offered him $5,000 to assassinate Little, the union organizer, Hammett refused in disgust. Regardless of the story’s veracity, Little was ultimately lynched by six unidentified men in August 1917.
3. Crime And Punishment
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s 1866 masterpiece Crime and Punishment elevates the experience of crime to a profound, almost metaphysical level. The novel follows Rodion Raskolnikov, whose surname derives from the Russian word for “schism”, a destitute former student who plots to murder a pawnbroker to steal her ill-gotten wealth. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov’s motivations and rationalizations for his crime take precedence over the act itself. Much of the narrative immerses readers in Raskolnikov’s fractured mind. He views the pawnbroker as a societal leech, a “trembling vermin” who offers no value to the world. Conversely, Raskolnikov sees himself as an extraordinary individual, justified in committing such a deed. His inflated self-worth is evident when he compares himself to Napoleon multiple times throughout the novel.
Remarkably, Dostoyevsky captured the essence of an ego-driven murderer decades before the advent of criminal profiling. Raskolnikov serves as a fictional forerunner to figures like Leopold and Loeb, two affluent, intellectually gifted Chicago youths who murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks, believing themselves to be Nietzschean “overmen” capable of executing the perfect crime. Similarly, William Edward Hickman, a child killer, famously declared, “I am like the state; what is good for me is right.”
Dostoyevsky drew inspiration from the criminal Pierre Lacenaire (pictured above), a murderer and con artist who chronicled his crimes as part of a broader philosophy asserting that, “To kill without remorse is the highest of pleasures.” Lacenaire, whom Dostoyevsky explicitly references in his 1869 novel The Idiot, became a symbol of anti-establishment rebellion in France, even during his trial for a double homicide in 1836. After Lacenaire’s execution, Dostoyevsky continued to regard him as the epitome of criminals who exploit modern philosophy to justify their darkest impulses.
2. A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is undoubtedly the most notorious book on this list. Penned by British author Anthony Burgess in 1962, the novel depicts a dystopian England dominated by violent youth gangs. The story centers on Alex, the leader of a gang called the “droogs,” who communicate in obscure Anglo-Russian slang while engaging in random acts of “ultra-violence.” Fueled by Beethoven’s music, drug-laced milk, and his own sociopathic tendencies, Alex orchestrates nightly rampages. One such episode—the brutal assault and murder of a wealthy elderly woman—leads his gang to betray him, resulting in his arrest. In prison, Alex undergoes the Ludovico Technique, a mind control experiment designed to eliminate his violent urges through harsh aversion therapy. The experiment ultimately fails, and Alex returns to a life of crime with his droogs, though his enthusiasm for violence has waned.
Burgess’s novel underscores the notion that violence is an inherent part of human nature. He suggests that only maturity can help individuals overcome their most destructive impulses. Burgess’s pessimistic view of youth was shaped by his fascination with the Teddy Boys subculture in postwar England. After drafting the novel, Burgess visited the Soviet Union, where he witnessed the gang-related issues plaguing the region. On a personal level, Burgess was profoundly affected by his first wife’s traumatic experience of being assaulted and robbed by a group of US soldiers during the London blackout of 1944.
1. The Night Of The Hunter
Before its transformation into a critically acclaimed film in 1955, The Night of the Hunter was a bestselling novel penned by West Virginia author Davis Grubb in 1953. The story revolves around Harry Powell, a murderous ex-convict who poses as “Reverend Powell” to deceive and marry Willa Harper, the widow of a thief named Ben Harper. Determined to uncover the hidden loot from Harper’s final heist, Powell murders Willa and relentlessly pursues her children, believing they hold the secret. Set against the bleak backdrop of the Great Depression, The Night of the Hunter seamlessly blends crime fiction with the eerie essence of Southern Gothic literature.
The character of Harry Powell was inspired by Harry Powers (pictured above), a notorious serial killer active in Quiet Dell, West Virginia, during the early 1930s. Born Herman Drenth in the Netherlands, Powers immigrated to the US at 18. After marrying Luella Strother, whom he met through a Lonely Hearts advertisement, Powers devised a scheme to defraud widows of their wealth using fake ads. Before his arrest in 1931, the “Bluebeard of Quiet Dell” was responsible for the deaths of at least two women and three children, with suspicions of more victims.
